Nature lover, that’s who
wrote “Fairest Lord Jesus” as early as the 1100s (12th Century). The
composer may have been on a journey, perhaps even as he and his compatriots
were being forced out of their homeland. Pausing to recognize His creation –
perhaps that’s how this person or group managed to maintain some composure, if
they indeed were in troubling circumstances. They sang the song in their native
German tongue, even though they were separated from their native land. What is
one’s native tongue and native land, after all?
Various accounts propose
different conditions prevailed when “Fairest Lord Jesus” was first sung by
Christians. Was the song on German crusaders’ lips as they travelled toward the
Savior’s homeland in the 12th Century? One could imagine such a
group doing so, as they carried out their mission to make the Savior “lord of
the nations”, as one verse of the song intones. The beauty of nature was
obviously impressed upon the composer/s, maybe as they spent so much time in
it, perhaps as travelers, either as Crusaders, or maybe as followers of Jan Hus
up to five centuries later. Some Bohemian Hussites wound up in Silesia in
central Europe (see first map of the region produced in 16th
Century), as they tried to escape persecution. Look at some pictures of the region,
and you might think this people’s forced relocation was in one way an opportunity
to observe His creation. Think of the green meadows and forests, perhaps in springtime,
with all the glory of rejuvenated plant life to witness. It might cause one to
rejoice, even one with a ‘woeful heart’, as one verse confesses. So, the originator
was observing something magnificent, even while feeling crushed in his spirit
over some difficulty. He could see the night sky, too, reminding him of the
Creator’s handiwork beyond this earth. If I struggle, does that really matter,
if He is about me? That seems to be what the songwriter was saying, a message
that still rang true for another guy at least two centuries later and an ocean apart
from its German origin. His name was
Joseph August Seiss.
Seiss was an American, but
connected to the Old World by his faith roots. His ancestry was Moravian, and
he practiced his Christian faith as a Lutheran, rooted in Germany. It’s not
surprising that he would therefore feel drawn to “Fairest Lord Jesus”, perhaps
first sung by one or more of his distant relatives. He was a native American,
but maybe he’d say he had truly found something universal across the ocean in
another land, and centuries removed from his own time. Seiss translated Schönster
Herr Jesu into Fairest
Lord Jesus for us English-speakers in 1873, but he apparently retained the original
Silesian folk tune (known as Saint Elizabeth) associated with its words to
synergize an affecting praise-hymn.What was
it in the Silesian countryside that Christians saw that mingled with their
heart-level faith? We’ll probably never really know all the details, this side
of heaven. …one more story, waiting to be told. I plan on hearing more about it,
how about you?
Information on the song was
obtained from the books “Amazing Grace –
366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1990; “101
Hymn Stories”, by Kenneth W. Osbeck, 1982; and “The Complete Book of Hymns –
Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe
Petersen, 2006.
See this link for the song’s
4 or 5 or 6 verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/f/a/l/faljesus.htm
See this link for information
on the Hussites, the possible originators of the hymn: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hussite
See also for information on
hymn’s history: http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/PsH/461
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